Many passenger aircraft cabins are equipped with personal control units (e.g., gesture controllers) that enable passengers to control various settings related to in-flight entertainment and environment. As every day personal electronic devices (e.g., cellular phones, tablets, electronic watches, etc.) become more advanced with improved functions and graphics, there is a demand from aircraft passengers to have the same experience in-flight with more advanced personal control units having improved functions, graphics and user interface. However, the personal control units are often installed in cabin locations easily accessible to passengers (e.g., embedded in seats, seat armrests, drink rails, etc.) in a manner that is difficult to upgrade or replace without modifying interior finishes and wiring harnesses. Adoption of a personal control unit which does not fit the existing cabin configuration does not have a high acceptance rate due to the cost and time associated with the interior rework.
Therefore, there is a need for a highly customizable personal control unit that can be integrated into existing passenger cabins of various configurations, without requiring any modification of the existing space or wirings. Also, it would be desirable to have a highly customizable personal control unit with further improved functions and display, while minimizing the associated manufacturing cost.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art, or suggestions of the prior art, by inclusion in this section.
Further, while the background description was provided in the context of an aircraft cabin, it should be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art that the same need may exist in other contexts, including but not limited to motor vehicles (e.g., motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, etc.), railed vehicles (e.g., trains, trams, subways, etc.), watercraft (e.g., ships, boats, yachts, etc.), spacecraft, buildings, furniture, electronics, and more. Therefore, the exemplary embodiment of the current disclosure may not be limited to aircraft installation, but may also be integrated with other machines, systems, components, or any other environment or context in which the aforementioned need may exist.